‘2018 Oscar Shorts’ Take $615K; ‘Golden Exits’ Has Solid Bow; ‘Darkest Hour’ Crosses $50M: Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks

Sun, February 11, 2018 at 7:40 PM UTC

UPDATED at 11:45AM PT with more numbers and analysis. The specialty film marketplace saw an uptick in the number of releases and box office gross, though most ticket-buyers went for Oscar contenders continuing to aim for a nomination bounce.

Magnolia bundled this year’s group of Oscar-Nominated Short Films, teaming with ShortsTV to release the program in 180 locations over the weekend. The annual release has become popular, though this year’s did not quite match last year’s record-setting launch weekend. From Friday to Sunday, this year’s package grossed $615K, averaging $3,417, down from $660K in 184 sites a year ago. The 2017 edition went on to cume $2.83M. At the time, Magnolia touted it as the biggest opening ever for Oscar Shorts, both in terms of screen count and gross.

Still, it’s well ahead of 2016, which grossed $505K in just 112 theaters on the way to a hefty cume of $2.8M. Magnolia attributed the slightly lower gross to a “longer pre-awards window this year,” adding that in 2017, the shorts opened on February 10, barely two weeks before the Academy Awards telecast on the 26th – “the tightest window we’d ever had. Since the program is most successful during the period between opening day and the Oscars, attendance was much more concentrated last year, driving business higher the first weekend.” Magnolia said it expects this year’s crop of shorts to exceed last year’s cume of $2,835,355.

Alex Ross Perry’s Golden Exits opened with an exclusive weekend run at New York’s Metrograph, taking in $12,210. Starring Emily Browning, Adam Horovitz, Chlo? Sevigny, Mary-Louise Parker and Jason Schwartzman, Golden topped the PTA of Perry’s Listen Up Philip, which opened with $23,284 in two theaters in October 2014. The film will platform out to at least 10 more markets on February 16, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, Phoenix, and Miami, with other cities to be added throughout February and March.

Pantelion/Lionsgate opened bilingual rom-com La Boda de Valentina in a day-and-date release with Mexico, where the title was produced by Videocine. Stateside, the feature grossed $1.125M in 331 theaters, a typical release template for the distribution label, which champions Latino fare. La Boda de Valentina is the second film Pantelion has released day-and-date with Mexico, following 2015 comedy A La Mala, which also opened in February of that year and grossed $3.6M in the U.S.

Sony Pictures Releasing International opened Bollywood title Pad Man in 152 locations. Written and directed by R. Balki and starring Akshay Kumar, the feature grossed $760K, averaging $5K. Pad Man was adapted from the real life story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who is responsible for the menstrual hygiene revolution in India. Sony noted Sunday that Pad Man’s debut was “above the opening of Akshay Kumar’s last film released in the States, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which debuted with $678K in 176 theaters ($3,852 PTA).” Overseas, the film debuted at No. 1 in India with $7.9M from 2,794 screens. The film opened in 5 Sony markets internationally this weekend for a total of $8.9M from 2,950-plus theaters.

Sony Classics added 15 runs for Chilean feature A Fantastic Woman in its second outing. The Oscar-nominated feature grossed $121,623 in twenty locations, averaging$6,081. In its opening frame, the title grossed $70,978 in five locations, averaging $14,196. It has cumed nearly $233K.

Vertical Entertainment’s Middle Eastern feature Bilal: A New Breed of Hero shed runs in its second frame and still had some struggle. The title grossed $64K in 90 locations Friday to Sunday, averaging $711. It bowed in 300 theaters, grossing $278,500 in 300 theaters last weekend, averaging just $928. It has cumed over $449K.

In its third frame, SPC added five runs for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool with Annette Bening, Jamie Bell and Vanessa Redgrave, only dropping less than seven percent in its PTA. Still, it wasn’t quite gangbusters, pulling in $58,365 in 39 theaters, averaging $1,497. Last weekend, the title took in $54K in 34 locations, averaging $1,600. It has cumed a bit more than $394K.

Oscar-nominated films hoping to bring home major trophies at the March 4 ceremony have not broken out with as much commercial force as past years’ crops, a reality that is starting to sink in as the big night approaches.

Focus Features’ Phantom Thread returned to limited release after spending a couple weeks with a theater count that was over a thousand. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, the film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson grossed $1.19M in 558 locations, averaging $2,136, though that is an uptick from last weekend’s PTA. Phantom Thread took in $2.14M in 1,186 theaters the prior weekend, averaging $1,804. It has cumed $16.38M.

Neon/30West’s Oscar hopeful I, Tonya crossed $25M over the weekend. In 1,088 locations, the title grossed over $1.55M, averaging $1,427 bringing its cume to $25.22M.

Best Picture nominee Call Me By Your Name dropped 106 theaters, but still collected $683K in 475 locations, averaging $1,439 in its third month of release. Last weekend, the Sony Classics title grossed just over $1M for a $1,837 average. Call Me has now cumed $13.94M.

Focus Features’ Darkest Hour became the first 2017 limited release to crack the $50 million mark. Starring Oscar-nominated actor Gary Oldman, the Winston Churchill story is now at $51.47M as of this weekend after grossing another $1.59M in 1,045 theaters ($1,522 average).

Searchlight’s The Shape of Water added $3 million to come close to $50 million overall, a milestone it will record this coming week. And the distributor’s other major contender, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri went past $45M in its 14th weekend in theaters. It grossed $2.2M Friday to Sunday, averaging $1,728 bringing its cume to $45.34M.

A24’s Lady Bird also grossed the $45M threshold in its 15th frame. The Greta Gerwig-directed hit grossed $934K in 651 locations this weekend, averaging $1,436. It has cumed $45,237,505.

NEW RELEASES

2018 Oscar-Nominated Short Films (ShortsTV/Magnolia Pictures) NEW [180 Theaters] Weekend $615,000, Average $3,417

La Boda de Valentina (Pantelion/Lionsgate) NEW [331 Theaters] Weekend $1,125,000, Average $3,399

Bomb City (Gravitas Ventures) NEW [17 Theaters] Weekend $31,444, Average $1,849

The Female Brain (IFC Films) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $7,006, Average $3,503

Golden Exits (Vertical Entertainment) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $12,210

Met Opera: L’Elisir d’Amore (Fathom Events) NEW [900 Theaters] Weekend $1,170,000, Average $1,300

Pad Man (Sony Pictures Releasing International) NEW [152 Theaters] Weekend $760,000, Average $5,000

The Peacemaker (Central Square Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $4,400

RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND

A Fantastic Woman (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [20 Theaters] Weekend $121,623, Average $6,081, Cume $232,962

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero (Vertical Entertainment) Week 2 [90 Theaters] Weekend $64,000, Average $711, Cume $449,234

HOLDOVERS / THIRD+ WEEKENDS

Forever My Girl (Roadside Attractions) Week 4 [1,088 Theaters] Weekend $1,264,600, Average $1,162, Cume $14,603,919

The Insult (Cohen Media Group) Week 5 [50 Theaters] Weekend $109,508, Average $2,190, Cume $454,995

Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [39 Theaters] Weekend $58,365, Average $1,497, Cume $394,099

Phantom Thread (Focus Features) Week 8 [558 Theaters] Weekend $1,190,000, Average $2,136, Cume $16,388,000

I, Tonya (Neon/30West) Week 10 [1,088 Theaters] Weekend $1,552,643, Average $1,427, Cume $25,229,668

The Disaster Artist (A24) Week 11 [34 Theaters] Weekend $26,200, Average $771, Cume $21,061,507

The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight) Week 11 [1,780 Theaters] Weekend $3,000,000, Average $1,685, Cume $49,765,691

Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 12 [475 Theaters] Weekend $683,460, Average $1,439, Cume $13,945,596

Darkest Hour (Focus Features) Week 12 [1,045 Theaters] Weekend $1,590,000, Average $1,522, Cume $51,470,000

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Week 14 [1,273 Theaters] Weekend $2,200,000, Average $1,728, Cume $45,344,806

Lady Bird (A24) Week 15 [651 Theaters] Weekend $934,650, Average $1,436, Cume $45,237,505

BPM (Beats Per Minute) (The Orchard) Week 17 [2 Theaters] Weekend $459, Average $230, Cume $111,294

Faces Places (Cohen Media Group) Week 19 [13 Theaters] Weekend $21,575, Average $1,660, Cume $810,548

The Florida Project (A24) Week 19 [32 Theaters] Weekend $31,025, Average $970, Cume $5,791,913

Solve the daily Crossword

34,691 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others?34,691 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others?

Crossword

Entertainment News

Solve the daily Crossword